Posts Tagged With: america

MONDAY 7/16: Wall Drug Country

After the lull across North Dakota on Sunday, we’re excited to see the signs welcoming us to Wall Drug country. And, the signs touting FREE ICE WATER and 5 cent Coffee! Already, South Dakota is showing itself to be a happening place, comparatively speaking. Seriously, though I am excited to be here. I’ve planned this vacation for hours. I’ve scoured a few websites and even downloaded the Black Hills/Badlands app. Yes, there’s an app for that.

Monday morning we grab some breakfast at the super swanky Frontier Cabins Dining Room/Gift Shop/Fireworks stand. Seriously, this place is truly a hidden gem. We were given a cabin upgrade on check-in because the cabin size we wanted wasn’t available for two nights. We had agreed to switch cabins after the first night, but they didn’t want to inconvenience us and just upgraded our accommodations. And the kicker? You get a FREE BAG OF ICE for every day you stay! SD, you’re creeping right on up in my book. No, we didn’t stay in a teepee, although they’re available for $50/night. The cabin was clean, homey and perfect after a long two days on the road.

After breakfast, it’s back in the car to see the natural beauty of South Dakota. There is plenty to see all within just an hour or so drive from Wall. We head East (or is it West, South?) from Wall for the Badlands. A few minutes later we’re greeted by this:

Click for larger size.

Fantastic. They’re warning the rattlesnakes to Beware! This is my kind of place. The Badlands showcase some of the most eerily beautiful scenery I’ve experienced. My oldest is in heaven climbing all the rock formations. My youngest is bewaring the rattlesnakes and the crevices that could swallow him whole and pretty much anything else that may cause instantaneous death.

Click for larger size.

This area deserves much more time than what we are able to spend. The scorching heat combined with the king’s anti-outdoors sentiments make for a relatively quick stop. I really think I could spend an entire day, if my skin wouldn’t melt off my bones. I’d love to dig around in those nooks and crannies and see what treasures Old West marauders may have stashed. There were marauders here, right?

So back in the car it is, with the A/C blasting and Custer State Park in our sights.

Sunday 7/15: Sinclair Lewis and The Big Buffalo

Any road trip has its highs and lows. Our last cross-country road trip bottomed out somewhere in Nebraska. Actually, it bottomed out in Nowhere, NE. By lows, I don’t mean anything catastrophic. You just have those days where the scenery never changes and you drive for six hours and it still seems like you’re in the same spot.

Sunday is a low. We set our course for Minnesota, North Dakota and, finally, South Dakota. In our never-ending quest to hunt down local haunts and legends, we make a pit stop in Sauk Centre, MN. Yes, the birthplace of Sinclair Lewis. Oh, you didn’t know that’s where Mr. Lewis hailed from? Me either. And, if you can’t name one of his works, you’re not alone there either. He won a Nobel Prize, was an alcoholic, spent 10 days in a psychiatric institution and died in Rome. I learned that from Wikipedia, not Sauk Centre.

In Sauk Centre we stop to grab a few photos of the allegedly haunted Palmer House Hotel. The hotel looks like any other allegedly haunted hotel on the outside. It also looks like your average non-allegedly haunted hotel. Either way, I grab a few quick shots. We think ,”This would be a great place to leave a few ScareFest passes for a giveaway”. After all, there are paranormal groups here all the time. This hits a primary demographic for ScareFest fans.

Lee goes inside. The inside apparently doesn’t live up to his standards. I think the phrase was “smelled like someone’s attic.” He can’t find anyone around to discuss the giveaway. The only person that appears to work there was an older gentleman who had no interest in talking with him. He steps out from around a corner, looks at Lee and walks up the stairs without a word. Sorry, Palmer House visitors, there’s no free ScareFest passes waiting for you there. That’s the extent of our dealings with the haunted Palmer House. On a side note, we bypassed Sinclair Lewis.

From Minnesota it’s a straight shot across North Dakota. Remember way back when I said you can’t see one Dakota without the other? I was terribly wrong. I’m sure the North Dakotans are great people. However, their roadside attractions leave much to be desired. That is with the exception of the World’s Largest Buffalo. Road Trip Rule #3A states that “One can not, under any circumstance, drive past the World’s Largest anything without stopping for a photograph.” I choose my rule-breaking carefully, so this is one rule that I always abide by. I can proudly say that my family was photographed with the World’s Largest Buffalo. I’m sure it’s something they will remember all their lives. Or, something they will be embarrassed to tell their friends about. Either way, I win. Two important notes about the World’s Largest Buffalo: 1) His name is Dakota Thunder. 2) He’s anatomically correct.

Thankful for this little diversion, we hop back on the devil’s path through North Dakota, but something tells me there’s not much more than this to see off the interstate, either. After a few more hours, we cross the line and leave the monotony of North Dakota in our rear-view mirror. We can now check ND off the list of “States To See” and Sharpie it in under Nebraska on the list of “States To Never See Again”.

SATURDAY 7/14: The dickie is loaded!

Who knew you could fit so much stuff into the trunk (or if you’re my husband, “boot”) of a car. How many people call it a boot? I’d never even heard the term until I met him. Apparently he’s British because that’s where the term is most widely used. I guess I’m lucky. He could be from South Asia and call it a dickie.

Road trip Day 1 is underway. We’re all trying to carve out our own little habitat in each corner of the car. Our first planned stop is at Giordano’s in Chicago for some authentic stuffed pizza. He’s raved about it since a trip a couple of years ago. I’m excited for pizza, but Chicago, not so much. I don’t have anything against the town, but it’s not on my bucket list. We roll into the area at 1:30ish in the afternoon, belly tanks on E. As is the custom on any Kirkland Road Trip, Mother Nature welcomes us into the large metropolitan area with a torrential downpour. Bad weather, mixed with bad traffic equals grumpiness. The only thing keeping us from going all Donner party is knowing that the sweet salvation of a stuffed pizza pie is a mile up the road.

Then, the clouds part and we see the Rose Water Tower beckoning us into the parking lot of Giordano’s. I swear I heard a celestial “Ahhhhh!”. My first Giordano’s is well worth the wait. It’s even worth suffering through my boys’ game of “Extreme Rock, Paper, Scissors” at the table. Yes, I said suffer. My youngest pulls out all the stops and yells “Banana Hammock” to the completely packed dining room. As you can guess, he won that round. What in the world could possibly beat a banana hammock?

With bellies once again full, we’re back on the road aiming for Wisconsin. What’s there to see and/or do in Wisconsin? Well, there’s cheese. And the Beast of Bray Road, of course. Doesn’t everyone come to Wisconsin to find the beast? You see, we love finding local legends and reportedly haunted locations to check out on our way. With the aid of our Weird USA book and the every-ready Garmin, we head for Bray Road just outside of Elkhorn, WI. Yes, it’s at least 45 minutes “out of our way”, but when will we ever have the opportunity to search for an elusive werewolf-like creature that hasn’t been spotted since sometime in the 1990’s?

The excursion is unsuccessful in that we catch no glimpse of The Beast. However, we do see some very pretty Wisconsin countryside with only two wrong turns. All in all, it’s a nice diversion. We spend the rest of Day 1 trekking all the way across Wisconsin for a stopover in Hudson.

Days of the Dead was good this past weekend. I love checking out the other conventions, but of course my heart will always belong to ScareFest. We’re the best, that’s why. Things have been hectic around the Kirkland Compound the last couple of weeks, but I have managed to find time work in some vacation planning.

We had it narrowed down to three-quarters of the country. Not bad… The deep south is just too damn hot this time of year, so NOLA is a no-go.

Niagara Falls was a close second, but I just wasn’t feeling it. Eventually maybe, but not now. At least not until that giant baby starts wearing Little Swimmers.

So, from the get-go I’ve had my sights on South Dakota.

Wait….

That’s better. From my weeks hours of research, I’ve learned all there is to know about visiting South Dakota. Or, at least all I need to know. The Black Hills, Badlands, Deadwood, Mount Rushmore. Scenery. Wildlife. Photo ops. Wild Bill. Calamity Jane. Gambling. Gold mining. There seems to be something for all of us here.

Thank God for the AAA Trip Tik. I freaking love this handy little tool. The annual membership is well worth using this to plan your road trips. You enter your start and end locations and, POOF!, the map appears with the route. The kicker? You can click on the route and drag it to a different road/via point/etc. Since it defaults to the Interstate (aka The Devil’s Way) I always help it out a little and pick the more scenic back roads (aka Path to Nirvana). Then, you can search along your route for lodging, attractions, gas or whatever you believe necessary. Okay, do you get that I love AAA?

When doing road trips, I like to make a big ol’ circle around the area. I don’t like coming back the same way. You can double your sightseeing pleasure with this tactic. Here’s the “agenda” and I use it very loosely:

Chicago Deep Dish> Wisconsin Cheese> Minnesota (because it sits between WI and North Dakota)> North Dakota (because you can’t see one Dakota without seeing the other)> South Dakota> Iowa for catch-up time with friends> Missouri (Smokin’ Guns BBQ and Lambert’s Throwed Rolls)> The Compound.

When you see it all down in writing, our travels really seem to revolve around food. So be it! Eat well, travel often!

Oh, and MDI’s feelings will be hurt if I forget to thank him for naming the blog. So, thank you Donnie.

Enjoy your cookouts, family and friends. Enjoy your freedoms and never forget the sacrifices made for those freedoms. America! F*** Yeah!

Here in Kentucky, we’re in the middle of a drought. Fireworks are being banned all over the place. For those of you that won’t get to see the real deal, enjoy this slideshow from back in 2010. I always love doing shots like these. Seeing the fireworks as the camera lens sees them is always like opening a present! Hope you enjoy.